I don't think I care one way or the other about the death pix of Osama bin Laden. They constitute a document of some historical import, but I think the probability is high that they'd be seen as trophies, and that just increases the probability of some asshole using them to justify doing something shitty. If we can make or keep more friends by tucking them safely away in the archives, then OK; let's do that.
The really interesting thing is what Sarah Palin came up with tho'. She tweeted something about how releasing the pictures would serve as a warning to others who want to do us harm. I dunno how to break this to ya, sweetheart, but I have serious doubts that a potential suicide bomber will be deterred in any way if we threaten to kill him.
Where do these people get this shit?
Friday, May 06, 2011
Conflation
Obama's releasing his long form birth certificate didn't have much effect on Birthers, except that a few of the nuttier Repubs (eg: Michelle Bachman) kinda backed off a little. But then, Osama bin Laden is taken down, and new polls indicate a near collapse in support for the opinion that Obama was likely born outside of the US.
For me, that comes as close as anybody will ever get to proving that it was just another example of a political party playing to the worst impulses in some people. It was always and only about trying to delegitimize Obama's presidency.
And here's the sweet juicy fleshy part: Jr Bush beat Gore and then Kerry by playing up the Manliness Quotient. Bush wore the costume of the Great American Cowboy, he drove a pickup and he spent time "on the land" clearing brush, etc. He was practically built from scratch to look and sound and act like our ideal of the typical American workin' guy's hero. A father figure; somebody with big plans, and big swag, and a big dick. And that big swingin' dick was never more evident than when Bush was making threats. Bush talkin' smack about somebody was the basic theme for his whole time in office. 9-11 was the best thing that ever happened for that bozo, because it allowed him to play up the macho bullshit in order to hide the simple fact that he didn't have the intellectual horsepower God gave the average houseplant.
And that's how the Repubs have rolled. There's probably a dozen or more examples of how Repubs have torn down real heroes who were running for office in order to give us cheap imitations.
Now they have a real challenge. They spent all that time and energy carefully making OBL into this Uber Villain, only to have the wonky dithering law professor end up being the guy who took him down. They have to figure out how to attack Obama for having done exactly what they said only a Super Manly Republican could do.
For me, that comes as close as anybody will ever get to proving that it was just another example of a political party playing to the worst impulses in some people. It was always and only about trying to delegitimize Obama's presidency.
And here's the sweet juicy fleshy part: Jr Bush beat Gore and then Kerry by playing up the Manliness Quotient. Bush wore the costume of the Great American Cowboy, he drove a pickup and he spent time "on the land" clearing brush, etc. He was practically built from scratch to look and sound and act like our ideal of the typical American workin' guy's hero. A father figure; somebody with big plans, and big swag, and a big dick. And that big swingin' dick was never more evident than when Bush was making threats. Bush talkin' smack about somebody was the basic theme for his whole time in office. 9-11 was the best thing that ever happened for that bozo, because it allowed him to play up the macho bullshit in order to hide the simple fact that he didn't have the intellectual horsepower God gave the average houseplant.
And that's how the Repubs have rolled. There's probably a dozen or more examples of how Repubs have torn down real heroes who were running for office in order to give us cheap imitations.
Now they have a real challenge. They spent all that time and energy carefully making OBL into this Uber Villain, only to have the wonky dithering law professor end up being the guy who took him down. They have to figure out how to attack Obama for having done exactly what they said only a Super Manly Republican could do.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Let The Games Begin
Be sure to tune in tonite (9pm EDT - on DumFux News) for the first GOP debate, kicking off the 2012 Quadrennial Campaign Season!
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Just A Single Nod
One small detail of OBL's demise that's drifted thru the noise over the last coupla days is that JSOC (Joint Special Ops Command - the outfit that pulled off the raid in Abbottabad) was Stanley McCrystal's baby. Also, McCrystal was a major player in making the deal with Pakistan that included the "Hot Pursuit Clause" that made it all legal to invade Pakistan in our attempt to hammer OBL.
People under McCrystal's command were openly hostile to their CinC and others in Obama's admin (as reported via Rolling Stone Magazine earlier this year). That's called insubordination, and it just can't be tolerated. Our system requires keeping the military subordinate to civilian authority because we know it can be extremely dangerous to allow even the best general officers to build any public constituency that runs counter to that civilian authority while still in uniform. So I won't cry for poor ol' Stanley because I think firing him was exactly the right thing to do, but I think we can acknowledge the guy for having made an important contribution. Way to go, Stan. Thanks - and enjoy your retirement.
People under McCrystal's command were openly hostile to their CinC and others in Obama's admin (as reported via Rolling Stone Magazine earlier this year). That's called insubordination, and it just can't be tolerated. Our system requires keeping the military subordinate to civilian authority because we know it can be extremely dangerous to allow even the best general officers to build any public constituency that runs counter to that civilian authority while still in uniform. So I won't cry for poor ol' Stanley because I think firing him was exactly the right thing to do, but I think we can acknowledge the guy for having made an important contribution. Way to go, Stan. Thanks - and enjoy your retirement.
One Good Line
It turns out that sending all that Foreign Aid to Pakistan over the years was just feeding the hand that bites you.
Good Old American Capitalism
Paraphrasing Mr Mencken: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence or good taste of the American public.
It took a little over 24 hours for the plucky entrepreneurs to descend on the corpse.
Something else I find a little unsettling is all the cheerleading at MSNBC last night. All the "big liberals" have been practically giddy about the chance to snatch the National Security issue away from the Repubs.
And, of course, over at DumFux News, everybody has suddenly rediscovered their affections for Jr Bush - after spending the last 2 years rarely even acknowledging his time in office.
"Finally getting bin Laden" is a big deal, but I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that what it means to politicians will turn out to be very different from what it means to Citizen Joe.
The task for the politicos now is to figure out the wording of a message that will keep us cheering and holding hands, while using our sense of unity as a wedge to isolate their opponents and to incite us to beat them to death with our feelings of good will.
"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you're constantly either proven right or pleasantly surprised." --George Will
Like I said before, there's something just kinda creepy about it, but at the same time, there's an element of The Circle Of Life as well; the dead become sustenance for the living, and so maybe there's some small reason to celebrate because we need to make an effort to find something good in all this bad. Dunno. I still I don't like the idea that we're providing incentive for scalp-hunting. And watching what appeared to be some genuinely spontaneous demonstrations of heartfelt emotional release quickly descend into expressions of nationalistic fervor was chilling for me.
Something else I find a little unsettling is all the cheerleading at MSNBC last night. All the "big liberals" have been practically giddy about the chance to snatch the National Security issue away from the Repubs.And, of course, over at DumFux News, everybody has suddenly rediscovered their affections for Jr Bush - after spending the last 2 years rarely even acknowledging his time in office.
"Finally getting bin Laden" is a big deal, but I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that what it means to politicians will turn out to be very different from what it means to Citizen Joe.
The task for the politicos now is to figure out the wording of a message that will keep us cheering and holding hands, while using our sense of unity as a wedge to isolate their opponents and to incite us to beat them to death with our feelings of good will.
"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you're constantly either proven right or pleasantly surprised." --George Will
Monday, May 02, 2011
Ding Dong The Bastard's Dead
Osama bin Laden is dead. There's a certain feeling of satisfaction for me, but I'm finding it hard to get into any kind of party mood. First because I think it's more than just a little ghoulish and primitive to celebrate anybody's death, even when it's somebody who is so obviously and irredeemably a nihilistic asshole like OBL was. But mainly it's because of the price the whole world has had to pay just to kill this one guy. And it's because this isn't the end of anything; it's not the beginning of the end; it's not the end of the beginning; it's not any other clever little bumper sticker sentiment the pundits and PR spinners will come up with over the next several news cycles. (Tho' I admit it'll be fun to see what we decide will be the winning slogan)
Here's one:
"My government spent a trillion dollars, 20 billion rounds of ammo and 6,000 American lives to kill Osama bin Laden, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."
Here's one:
"My government spent a trillion dollars, 20 billion rounds of ammo and 6,000 American lives to kill Osama bin Laden, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)